Chennai Apr 25 PTI The Tamil Nadu government would establish an international conservation and rehabilitation centre to protect Olive Ridley turtles in Chennai and also initiate measures to declare the Nanjarayan tank a biodiversity hotspot in Tiruppur district as the States 17th bird sanctuary Forest Minister K Ramachandran told the Assembly on Monday Announcing a slew of measures to improve biodiversity of the state he said the mission to protect the turtles and their habitats would be set up here at a cost of Rs 63 crore The centre would foster research awareness and related activities on the turtles he said This will be implemented under the Tamil Nadu Green Mission which would go a long way towards climate change mitigation and adaptations he said Also Chennais familiar landmarks the Adyar river Buckingham Canal and Cooum river would sport a green look as the government would take up the planting of saplings on the river banks he said Further the Nanjarayan tank home to about 130 species would be developed as the 17th bird sanctuary in the State the Minister said Steps woud be taken to set up the Cauvery south wildlife sanctuary adjacent to the Cauvery north wildlife sanctuary About Rs 5 crore has been allotted for preparing a detailed project report for this Ramachandran said Meanwhile a policy-note tabled by the Minister said the government would set up a marine elite force for strategic protection of the coastal and marine biodiversity prevention of wildlife poaching and illegal trade in the coastal regions as the marine resources are constantly exploited for economic reasons Many protected marine species are also hunted illegally by the poachers and smugglers as those fetch huge prices in domestic and international illegal wildlife markets Thus many of rare and endangered species are facing constant threats to their survival due to over exploitation he said in the note Practice of prohibited trawl net fishing and other illegal fishing methods bring additional stress on the species Marine turtles sea cucumbers sea horses sharks and rays pipe fishes dugongs dolphins and sea shells face extraordinary hunting pressures In order to address the above and to strengthen protection in the ecological sensitive coastal marine areas in the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere reserve particularly the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park and the Palk Bay establishment of the marine elite force with professional training and exposure is proposed the note added Also the government would set up forest sniffer dog squad units for detection of forest and wildlife offences besides a forest and wildlife crime control bureau to detect and prevent planned wildlife crimes PTI JSP NVG NVG

Chennai Mar 25 PTI The Tamil Nadu budget for 2022 - 23 has not offered any relief for the common man as it has failed to announce any subsidy to reduce the price of LPG cylinder petrol and diesel State BJP chief K Annamalai said on Friday The decision of the DMK government in the State to alter the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Memorial Marriage Assistance Scheme into a higher education assurance scheme denies young girls a substantial sum as assistance besides a sovereign gold for their wedding he said Girls will not get Rs 25000 or Rs 50000 depending on their educational qualification Moreover the marriage assistance in addition to one-sovereign gold for thali is low and the government has wound up this social welfare scheme Annamalai said while addressing his partymen during a protest here against the State budget The transformation of the scheme would only provide a meagre Rs 1000 per month to girl students to pursue higher education he said Though the budget allocated Rs 36895 crore for the Department of School Education 84 per cent of it would go towards salaries leaving a measly sum for improving infrastructure of government schools he said Annamalai alleged that the budget reflected several central schemes of the Narendra Modi-led government like Skill India Samagra Shiksha one station one product and rural road development programme Schemes like the Naan Mudhalvan Illam Thedi Kalvi and rural road development were nothing but the Skill India Samagra Shiksha and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana And the DMK government takes pride in its model of development said the BJP leader He sought to know why Chief Minister M K Stalin should not join hands with the BJP-led government in implementing all the central schemes in the State Theres no need for a separate budget for Tamil Nadu if you implement all the central schemes Annamalai said Also he alleged that the ruling DMK was trying to display a show of affinity to Hindus by announcing Rs 1000 crore for kumbhabhishekam consecration and renovating temples PTI JSP NVG NVG